No impact

Last night I finally watched No Impact Man on netflix. It was an excellent documentary. Colin Beaven decided to live a year trying to make no impact on the environment. He gave up motorized transportation, only ate local foods, gave up all cleaning chemicals. His wife was very reluctant at first. She loved coffee and TV and shopping. Eventually they turned off the power in their house, using only candles at night if needed. Their small daughter loved it. I have been reading the no impact blog for some time, so I knew the things they had done. What struck me most was his comment that days lasted forever. Also, he pointed out a false question that I see many times. Instead of spending time trying to figure out which products are most sustainable, first decide if you can do without. Doing without is usually the cheapest, most sustainable thing you can do.
I recommend this movie. Very though provoking.

Finally

I finally found one of the environmental clips that MTV used to run back in 1989. Believe it or not, this is one of the things that originally inspired me to be environmentally conscious and set me on the path of the lifestyle I want to have. Let me know if you find more of these. I thought they were really good.

Earth day

Earth day is tomorrow so go out and do something for the environment.

Earth Day Network

Earth hour again

Again my son wanted to do earth hour. Something about turning off all the lights and just interacting with each other, he loves it. He asked, 'mom, can you do earth hour anytime?' I said 'of course! that's the point!'
We should be thinking about how we can protect the earth all the time. One of the many bonuses of this is more quality time with your family just talking to them. Help spread the word!

Earth hour revisited

My kids and I participated in Earth Hour last night. When I told them about it, I found that they had no clue what I was talking about. To be summed up in my son's question, "if we turn off the lights, does the earth warm up?" So I spent the hour talking to them a little about what global warming is and why it's important. I mentioned ice caps and sea level rising and weather patterns changing. I think they understood a little.
Kids pick up on things so fast I just assumed that had heard of global warming just a little bit. I read a lot on the topic and hope they start reading as well. Don't assume your kid know all about something. Sometimes it's just bits and pieces.
There are a lot of critics of Earth Hour out there (just read the comments on their web site) but I think it's a great tool for raising awareness and my family has decided to participate every week. It's a chance to slow down, talk to your kids, explain a little more of your personal philosophy.
It was fun!

Earth hour

Participate in Earth hour this year. It's an easy easy (and of course cheap) way to show your commitment to the earth. There is more information here.
I'm going to try and do the live blogging thing to get involved tomorrow night. It's a great way to unite people all over the world and raise awareness of global climate change.